FBI Fury As Men With
Nuke Plans,
Valid Israeli Passports Escape
By Katty Kay
The Times, London
11-2-1

WASHINGTON - With America on top security alert, the
FBI was hunting yesterday for six men of Middle Eastern
appearance carrying plans of a nuclear power plant and
the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline who were picked up by
police in the Midwest over the weekend but then released.

The incident is thought to be connected with the
latest FBI alert and senior intelligence officials are
furious that the men were set free before they could be
fully questioned.

The men were travelling in two groups of three in
white saloon cars when they were pulled over by police
officers in the Midwest, according to the Knight Ridder
News Service. Security officials have refused to disclose
further details.

The men were searched and questioned and the state
officers discovered detailed plans and photographs of a
nuclear power plant in Florida, along with box
cutters-the weapons used in the September 11 attacks- and
other equipment.

The men, who appeared to be of Middle Eastern origin
and held Israeli passports, were then interviewed by
immigration officials. When their passports and visas
were found to be in order the officers, who were not
aware of the country's imminent security alert, let the
men go without first calling in the FBI to question them
more thoroughly.

It is not clear why the men were pulled over in the
first place nor why intelligence officers were not given
a chance to interview them. Agents suspect that the men
will by now have switched cars and tried to flee the
country, possibly to Canada.

Intelligence officials were especially concerned about
the nuclear plant details. America's nuclear facilities
received special attention in the latest FBI alert. The
men were also carrying plans of the 800-mile Trans-Alaska
pipeline, which delivers 17 per cent of America's oil.

There are three nuclear facilities in Florida, which
have now been advised to step up security. One of the
plants has called in local police as an extra security
precaution.

The news came as the US banned private flights near US
nuclear facilities for the next ten days, in connection
with the warning of another terrorist attack, and
National Guard troops were deployed at nuclear power
plants in three southern states. The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission ordered the nation's 103 nuclear power plants
to increase security.

At a time when police have unprecedented powers to
arrest and detain people who are merely suspected of
having links to terrorist activities, the release of
these six men has infuriated the FBI.

The incident suggests a dangerous lack of
co-ordination between different law enforcement bodies.
Under America's new anti-terrorist laws, police can hold
someone almost indefinitely on charges of being a
"material witness" to terrorism. Canada
announced that it had given the US important intelligence
about another possible imminent terrorist attack.
Canadian secret services intercepted telephone calls and
e-mails from al-Qaeda operatives in Canada that referred
to a major event taking place "down south" this
week.

Law enforcement officials said that the US military
intercepted numerous other calls leading up to the alert,
which all used the same coded phrases. The FBI received
intelligence about the new threat on Monday.